In Another Dimension
by NatNicole
Summary: Jes here. My suckish life has been turned upside down now that I'm in a freaking other dimension. Not that I care; these adventures are really cool even if I'm most likely to get killed in a span of ten seconds. Wanna see if I'll survive the war? Check out my story! [Rated T due to mild swearing and the you-should-know-how-big amount of violence.]
1. Chapt1: You have got to be kidding me!

**Chapter One: You have **_**got**_** to be kidding me!**

I'm just your average 15-year-old with brown eyes, messy chin-length flaming red hair, and some freckles here and there on my face. I'm a bit short (actually, most people think I'm 13 from my size) and I have lightly tanned skin. My name is Jessie Collins, but my best friend Vicky calls me Jes. Or Little Spit-Fire whenever I lose my temper and go into a quick fit of rage.

One day I was just laying on my bed in the room I share with my 12-year-old younger brother Luke Collins. Back when mum was still alive, she had found him as a 2-year-old baby with no family, so we had adopted him.

Right now, me and Luke were goofing around in our room, passing my soccer ball to each other. "I'm gonna get a drink. Want some?" he said, getting up from his laying position on the top bunk and climbing down.

"Nah," I replied. While he went to the filled-with-dirty-dishes-and-laundry room called our kitchen, I turned on our computer. I knew there was no way I could do much on it since it has no internet, but I figured I'd play Solitaire or something.

Strangely, the screen glowed with an eerie ale blue light. Being the curious idiot I was, I put my hand on the screen. It at once pulled me through.

* * *

"Oh snap!" I screamed as I landed into icy cold water. Putting all my thoughts to getting up, I swam as fast as I could. Fortunately, I reached the surface, but I was freezing. "This sucks!"

I saw a snow bank, and climbed onto it numbly. It looked like I was in Greenland or one of the Poles from the looks of things. And my clothes weren't helpful either, since I only had on my lime green T-shirt and black slacks.

Turning around, I saw a black boat of some kind. A rope was thrown down to me as someone yelled "Catch!". I took the rope and held on as I was pulled up. A man wearing what looked like red and black armour held his hand for me, and against my better judgement I just took it. He pulled me on board, and I was instantly surrounded by more men like the first one. Pretty much all of them had helmets that I recognized.

One of my favourite shows is Avatar: The Last Airbender. When I first got to know of it, I liked it so much I learnt the bending techniques for the fun of it. Not that I'd often get to watch the show, considering the fact that in my house there's only sports channels that a certain alcoholic always watches.

These men and this ship looked like exact duplicates of the show. "Did Halloween come early?" I asked with a smirk. Funny how I could feel carefree when I'm suffering from hypothermia.

The men began muttering among themselves. "What's a Halloween?" someone asked in a bemused voice.

"I think she said _Hollow _Ween," another replied.

"And what exactly would _that_ be?"

"Damned if I know."

"I think this kid hit his head on the side of the ship when you pulled him up."

I chuckled. Of course, these guys think I'm a boy. No wonder, this wasn't exactly the first time strangers didn't get that I'm a girl. But for the past few years it had started getting on my nerves.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up abruptly and saw that the soldier who had pulled me out of the water – namely, the only one with his helmet off – was trying to get my attention. His hair, jet black, hung down to his shoulders - making it longer than mine, I noted mentally. His eyes were a vivid blue, something I found strange but not worth commenting on. His features were distinctly Asian, which also led me to believe that he was actually what he looked like – a Fire Nation soldier.

I shied away from his touch, resisting the urge to slap his hand away. "Sorry," he said. "But I have to ask you a few questions, um..."

"Jessie," I snapped.

"Pardon?"

"That's my name. Jessie."

"Jess... See?" he said slowly. "Odd. I take it, then, that you aren't Water Tribe?"

"Do I _look_ like I'm from the Water Tribe?" I asked dryly. It was, after all, a rather stupid question. Water tribe were dark skinned, had dark hair and wore blue like it was going out of style. I, on the other hand, looked nothing like them – especially with my red hair. I suppose if I really _was_ in the Avatar's world, I should be wearing more girly clothing, like a kimono. Maybe that was why everyone was convinced I was a boy.

The soldier grinned at me, completely unabashed. "Earth Kingdom, then."

"Not quite," I replied sarcastically. "And before you ask, I'm not from the Fire Nation, either." I paused at that moment, realizing that it might have been better to pretend that I _was_ Fire Nation. It might have kept me alive longer, though I certainly would have had fun trying to explain how I had gotten all the way from the Fire Nation to the... um... were those glaciers we just passed?

He didn't seem to realize that I had stopped paying attention to him, and was now staring dumbfoundedly at my surroundings.

"I wasn't going to," he said. "You're obviously not Fire Nation, but you can't possibly be an Air Nomad... Why, those went extinct decades ago!"

"No kidding," I muttered, trying to stop shivering. Unfortunately, my clothes were entirely water-logged and clung to me like a wet suit, and the metal of the ship felt extremely cold on my bare feet. The air was dry and frigid, with a damn sea breeze blowing gently. At this point, I was kind of hoping that one of the soldiers would get mad and start slinging some fire at me. It would certainly warm me up a little.

"I wonder..." the man said, almost thoughtfully.

"Keep wondering," I snapped. I wasn't in the best of moods. Pretty soon, I knew, I would have to answer to whoever was in charge of this rust-bucket. I didn't know what I was supposed to tell them, either.

"Make way for Prince Zuko!" someone yelled. I heard a rush of footsteps as the soldiers moved back into their original positions, but all of them seemed reluctant to get too far away from me. I was a novelty for them, and I could tell that they weren't above invading my personal space if they could find out who the hell I was. Actually, come to think of it, they had already violated my personal space.

When I heard the name Prince Zuko, I froze. Let's follow the chain of logic for a second: _Prince Zuko_ owned this ship. This ship is currently anchored in the middle of what appears to be the _South Pole_. He is _Prince_ Zuko, not _Fire Lord_ Zuko. What else could all this mean except...

All of the colour drained out of my face at the horrible realization, though I doubt there was much left in it considering how cold I was.

_Fuck. We're still at WAR..._

I was going to die. It was official.

In any case, when Zuko finally did arrive on deck, the first thing he saw was that all of his troops were in a state of disorder. Then he saw this mess of a human being with strangely fire red hair, sitting on the floor, completely drenched and wearing rather strange clothes, and shivering like she was about to come apart at the seams-namely - me.

"Make way for Prince Zuko!" the messenger said in a booming voice. The soldiers, upon realizing that their superiors were present, immediately scrambled to their posts.

Instead of bowing respectfully or even possibly cowering in fear, I boldly met Zuko's gaze, not wanting to show weakness. Heck, I was practically at his mercy. The last thing I wanted was for him to know it. Our staring contest seemed to last forever while he took my bedraggled appearance in. I saw him raise his eyebrows.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"Prince Zuko," said the helmet-less soldier, "if I may, the boy's name is Jess-See."

I winced at the weird accent he put on my name. "I'm a girl, idiot!" I corrected him, making said soldier almost jump.

"Her name is Jess-See," he corrected, looking at me again and realizing I really was a girl.

"Let her speak for herself then, Shen," Zuko snapped. He set his piercing gaze on me again, his ponytail whipping furiously in the wind. He was looking at me as though I were some kind of criminal. "Who are you?"

"Meh, whatever," I muttered. "I'm Jessie. Or Jes, whichever you prefer. But I'm pretty sure that guy already made it clear that's my name." I tried desperately to rub some warmth into my arms while glaring formidably at the hot-headed royal. He certainly had looks, but not much else in the personality department. I was quickly forgetting all the reasons for liking him back home. Not surprising. It was a long way away from the third season, where he was supposed to redeem himself. Right now he was just... an angry jerk.

Fortunately, Iroh came to my rescue. "Perhaps we can continue this discussion another time," he said, coming forward. "At the moment, I think we should get you out of those clothes."

"I think Ai-Lin will have a spare outfit for you to change into," Iroh continued kindly. He reached out a hand to me and I accepted it, gratefully. "It is nice to meet you, Jess-See."

"Actually," I said, figuring it'd be easier for these guys, "it's Jes. Not Jess-See. But thanks. Same to you, I suppose."

Then, I got an idea. One that would buy me even more time. "I don't suppose you can spare me a cup of tea," I said slowly. "I... I'm really cold... and tired... and thirsty."

Iroh brightened immediately while Zuko let out a long groan. I had trouble hiding my sigh of relief – not to mention my mistimed mirth. For some reason, seeing the Fire Crown Prince so irritated was just funny.

* * *

Right now, I was being shown the way to the servant's quarters by the helmetless soldier, who I later learned was named Shen. After I had changed into something presentable, I was to report to General Iroh's quarters for that cup of tea he had promised. I had no doubt in my mind that his nephew would be joining us. The looks he had been giving were nothing short of pure determination and distrust – he would not be letting me get away so easily, that much I knew.

As I was being led away, Zuko had made a noise of annoyance. I could tell what was passing through his mind. He wanted to find the Avatar – God only knows if he had met Aang, yet. All of a sudden, a mysterious girl ends up appearing on his ship with absolutely no indication of where she could have come from. He probably wanted answers. I know I did.

Unfortunately, I couldn't think up a good enough lie because Shen-Long was trying to be sociable. It was irritating. Plus, it didn't help that I kept stumbling because of the boat constantly lurching and rolling with the waves. I started to get sick to my stomach.

"So, Jess-See..." he said slowly, "That's an... interesting name..."

"Uh, huh... Call me Jes."

"What does it mean?"

I paused, turning to blink at him. "What?"

"Your name," he clarified hastily. "I mean, my father always told me that names tell a story... like, origins perhaps?"

I decided that I didn't like Shen very much at all. He was too damn curious about me, and God damn it, I had enough problems with the canon characters, let alone the nameless background people who don't contribute anything to the plot. What, did he think I was some sort of spy bent on assassinating the Fire Crown Prince? Actually, that was probably _exactly_ what he thought.

"If you want to ask where I'm from, quit beating around the bush."

"Fine. Where are you from?"

"Nowhere."

Shen nodded in an all-knowing way. "You're a nomad, aren't you?"

"No," I said. "I just... travelled a long way. But I'm not a nomad."

I did have a home. It was just an entire dimension away – an unreachable distance that I had somehow crossed within a span of around five seconds.

* * *

_Yay,_ I thought sarcastically. I was standing in front of the General's room's door, wearing clothes borrowed from the only other girl on board – a 18-year-old Fire Nation girl whose name escapes me at the moment. I think she's called Ai-Lin, and lucky for me she's pretty short. So the red shirt and black trousers she let me borrow fit me fairly well.

I knocked on the door, and heard a pretty familiar voice say: "Come in."

"I've come, General Iroh," I said lamely as I pushed the door open. "For the tea."

"Yes, I can see that," he replied genially. "Why don't you have a seat?"

I took my place on the opposite end of the table. There was an ornate-looking kettle and three sets of cups and saucers. Three, not two.

"My nephew will be joining us," Iroh explained as he detected my gaze. There was no emotion in his eyes when he said that; no promise that nothing bad would happen to me on board his ship; no assurances that I would be safe. Just that matter-of-fact tone of voice.

I wondered whether or not I had miscalculated this man.

"That's... nice..."

Iroh was watching me closely. It made me curious as to what thoughts were passing through his shrewd mind.

"Indeed," he said. "However, I wanted the chance to converse with you privately before then. As of yet, Prince Zuko is still under the assumption that you are with Ai-Lin. I see she has found something decent for you to wear."

I found myself blushing. "Yeah, that was nice of her, General." I couldn't help feeling a bit at ease with the old man around. He seemed just as grandpa/uncle-like as he was in the show.

"What kind of business does Prince Zuko have in the South Pole?" I asked, guessing I ended up to sometime at the start of the series.

"It is nothing you need to concern yourself with," Iroh replied in that same matter-of-fact voice as before. "Perhaps we can turn our attention to the matter at hand. To begin with, Lieutenant Jee informs me that he had seen you fall into the water from the sky shortly before you were discovered by the crew. What happened to you?"

_Oh, snap. _"Um..." to stall for time, I took a long sip of the tea. It was brutally hot and I scalded my tongue. Not wanting to offend the General in case he decided to let Zuko kill me, I tried to control myself and just had a small coughing fit as I clutched the cup to make sure it didn't spill.

Iroh waited patiently for me to finish. He apparently suspected a ruse like this on my part.

"Better?" he asked. I nodded mutely.

"It... it was hot..."

"Indeed, tea is usually best served hot, especially when it is served to one who was found in the icy waters of the South Pole," Iroh said pointedly. "You were saying?"

"Ah, right," I said, as though I could have forgotten the question. "Well... Um... Sir, I don't really... know how I got there."

Well, it certainly wasn't a lie. How the hell _had _I gotten into the Avatar universe? To distract myself, I allowed my gaze to drift to my surroundings. General Iroh's abode was handsomely furnished without being too ostentatious. There was a map of the four nations hanging on the wall in front of me, where Iroh was sitting. I could see little pins with red glass beads on the head, indicating various locations. I had no way of figuring out the order they were placed on the map, so it didn't help much in telling me where exactly we were. I looked to my right and saw Iroh's bed with a Fire Nation flag hanging over on the far wall. There was a bookshelf in the corner, and in the dead center of the room was the table we were using for the tea.

"I don't think I understand," said Iroh.

"Well, that makes both of us, I guess," I said with a sigh. "I mean, the last thing I remember was... being with my brother Luke. He left to get something to drink and then I saw a bright light…" I trailed off. It was technically true, and Iroh didn't need to know the light came from a computer screen. Heck, these guys knew nothing about well-developed technology!

"Fire?"

"I'm... not sure," I lied. "Maybe. But whatever it was, it didn't burn me. The next thing I know, I'm falling into the icy waters."

The Dragon of the West fell silent, musing. He took a long, slow sip of his tea, as though it would help his thoughts.

The sudden rushing of footsteps, angry voices, the bark of an order, and the sound of a lock hastily being pried open. Iroh looked up in alarm right as the door burst open, and an angry Prince Zuko strode into the room. I jumped, almost knocking my cup of tea over.

"I thought I told you that I was to question the prisoner," he fumed. He shot me an expression of distaste before turning to his uncle. "She came here under extremely suspicious circumstances, and I for one don't think it's an innocent coincidence that she just appeared in the water like that," I heard Zuko yelling at Iroh. "Did you even ask her about that?"

"Of course."

"And?"

Iroh calmly sipped his tea. "The cause is still open for debate, but we think it was some sort of accident that she arrived here at all."

"And that's okay with you?" Zuko demanded angrily. I was glaring at him now. I knew he had every right to be suspicious of me. It's exactly what I would have been if I had been in his royal shoes. But right then and there, as he continued to eye me with those golden hate-filled eyes, clenching his hands into fists as though he would like nothing more than to curl his fingers around my throat... Well, I just about hated him.

Prince Zuko was acting like a real prick. If the situation wasn't so tense, I'd laugh at the idea of seeing Prince Angry Jerk being an angry jerk right in front of me.

"All questions will be answered with the passing of time," Iroh replied. "Truth has a funny way of catching up with a person, you see... but in the meantime," he added slyly, "perhaps there is something you'd like to ask her? Perhaps you'll answer some of your suspicions that way."

Only an idiot would have missed the implications behind that remark. They were talking about the Avatar again. Now, I doubted that Iroh would stick up for me considering the fact that I'm a total stranger.

"What nation are you aligned with?"

"Aligned?" I repeated blankly. "You mean where I'm from?"

Zuko scowled at me. "Yes."

I thought for a moment. The map on Iroh's wall was a complete map of the world. So that meant that there were no uncharted territories, no undiscovered terrain, and no chance of me being from anything but one of the four nations. I had only four options, well, three. The air nomads were practically nonexistent.

I already admitted to Shen that I wasn't Water Tribe or Earth Kingdom. And I seriously doubted that I could pass myself off as Fire Nation. Should I go with the nomads after all? I did tell that guy Shen I was something of a nomad.

"I don't really have a home. Not anymore," I said after a long pause. "I travelled a long way."

I was determined not to lie if I could. I figured that if I wanted to stay focused on surviving, I couldn't waste brain cells remembering what I told different people. Besides, if I was lucky enough to pass Zuko's inspection, I knew my every move would be watched and carefully analyzed. I couldn't afford any discrepancies.

"Where are your parents?"

I winced, thinking of my father. He sure wasn't someone I wanted to see if I could help it. "Gone," I whispered, a little sadly since I missed my brother and hoped Dad wasn't gonna blame Luke for my disappearance.

There was a thoughtful pause. I was worried that he would ask for more information, but apparently Zuko noticed how uncomfortable I was mentioning my parents. Maybe it was because he too had Daddy issues. Or maybe he just didn't care to know. Either way, he didn't press the issue.

"So you travelled alone then? For how long?"

"I haven't been keeping track," I told him. Then, I had to lie: "A long time I guess."

"And how do you survive?" Zuko wanted to know. "What do you do for food? For money?"

"I do what I can," I said slowly. And technically, this was true. Back at home I would either rely on Vicky's cooking or the cafeteria food at school to hold me over during the week. I rarely needed money, and if I did, I'd do odd jobs to get some.

"That's rather vague," Iroh put in.

"Well, it depended on where I was," I replied, flushing red. "I mostly do odd jobs for people, like carrying their shopping or cleaning their houses. I once went to a gambling ring and got lucky."

"Why are you in the South Pole?" he asked sharply. "I doubt any of _those_ talents would be welcome with the people here." It didn't take a genius to realize he was being sarcastic about the word "talents".

I glared at him. "I don't know _how_ I got here. All I know is that I _am_ here and unless you decide to kill me or something, I'm not going anywhere until we reach the mainland."

"We don't harbour stowaways. Unless you have some way of paying for the trip..."

"What are you going to do?" I demanded. "Throw me back to the sea? Leave me here to die? What gives you the right to–"

"Nephew," Iroh cut in. "Perhaps she _can_ pay for passage back to the Earth continent somehow."

The two exchanged glances. I could see a silent war between them, a contest of wills that Zuko was apparently losing. At least, if his rising frustration was any indication of the fact, then it was a battle he had already lost. The Dragon of the West just seemed... naturally content. And I myself had trouble believing that he was defending a perfect stranger. I mean, this _was _General Iroh, but... I dunno. It just weirded me out a bit. Usually no-one but Vicky and Luke is ever nice to me.

I looked at the mug of tea on the table. What _did _Iroh put in this, anyway?

"Fine," Zuko snapped. "She can work for food and lodging. But she's your responsibility."

"I'll see to it that she doesn't get into any trouble."

The Fire Prince rose to leave. He strode past his uncle without a second glance, but paused as his hard gaze met my own. Those golden irises of his were just so concentrated with suspicion and fury. Man, it was almost ridiculous to think how much this guy hated my guts.

"I want you back here after dinner," he said coldly. "I still have other things for you to tell me, and then we can discuss the terms of your indenture."

"Understood."

"If I hear anything about you stealing anything or putting my mission in jeopardy, I will personally see to it that you get shipped to the Boiling Rock," he continued in equally frosty tones. My mouth fell open in outrage, but it was ignored. Zuko grabbed the door handle and slammed it shut behind him, leaving me and the General in an awkward silence.

Really awkward.

"So..." I said, looking around the room. "I assume this isn't your average fishing trip, then?"

"No," Iroh replied, looking tired all of a sudden. "It isn't. But let us discuss other things," he said, changing the subject. His facial expression relaxed a bit as he brought another hospitable smile on his face. "So... what is your opinion about ginseng?"

And then, for the first time that day, I smiled.

* * *

Ai-Lin was waiting for me as I left the General's quarters. I found her leaning against the wall, fiddling with a flute-like instrument. I didn't recognize it, though. Not by glance.

"Oh, there you are," she said, looking up as I came closer. She stuck the instrument into this long pouch that hung from her belt. "I saw Zuko leave not that long ago... well, storm off, actually. I thought he might have killed you or something."

"No, but he wanted to. Is he always this charming?" I asked, grinning. I knew perfectly well what a dork he can be.

"Pretty much. I haven't seen that boy smile once since we first set sail three years ago. But listen, since you aren't being carted off to the holding cells down below, I assume that means you're off the hook?"

"For the moment," I said hesitantly. "Why do you ask?"

Ai-Lin whistled. It was long and low, but the pitch was neat and unbroken. "What did you say to get them to trust you?"

"I dunno, just the truth," I said with a shrug. It struck me as odd how casual she was even though we had just met. She reminded me of Vicky-if Vicky were a hardened sailor, that is. I mean to say that they both just sort of click with me. I warmed to Ai-Lin because she was one of those frank but sincere people you rarely meet, the kind who aren't afraid to slap you on the back and correct your mistakes. And, even more astonishing, they could do it without making you feel stupid.

I figured I could tell Ai-Lin what went down. "General Iroh says I can pay for passage back to the Earth Kingdom if I work on board the ship. I guess I'm part of the crew for a while..."

She smiled. "That's great, but hon'? You're not part of the crew until the crew says you're part of the crew."

"What do you mean?" I asked. Wasn't it enough that I had been hired... sort of?

"Well, everyone sort of has to go through initiation. Just to make sure you have your sea-legs and all."

"I have sea-legs," I protested as we started walking up some stairs to head for the deck. And it was true. Vicky took me and Luke sailing last summer. We would've gone in a few months' time again, but that doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

"You there!" the man known as Lieutenant Jee said, coming towards me with a mop and a bucket. He thrust them at me, and I barely caught them. "Mop up this deck. Ai-Lin, make sure she does a good job."

Ai-Lin nodded, while I was silently fuming. Aaand… the Little Spit-Fire went off.

"I have a name you know! And if you want this deck so clean, why don' ya do it yourself?" I said, clenching my fist to his face. He looked surprised, but then got angry.

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you, boy."

"What part of 'I have a name', don't you understand, stupid? Either call me Jes or don't talk to me. And I'm not a boy!"

Lieutenant Jee just glared at me before turning to Ai-Lin. "You might want to make sure _she_ learns manners," he said before storming off.

"Yikes! You have the temperament of a firebender," Ai-Lin laughed.

"I'm not a bender," I said, wishing I was. If I could bend, I'd kick these guys' butts and get the hell outta here.

Just as I was finishing off mopping the stupid deck, I saw a pale blue beam of light shoot to the sky. No doubt who the reason for that is…

* * *

Fourteen-year-old Katara pressed closer to her older brother as the strange boy stood on top of the ridge, his eyes blue and glowing, the arrow on his forehead glowing just as brightly. There was an unnerving aura surrounding him, as if he was merely the vessel for hundreds of years of wisdom and power, and that only a thread of restraint was keeping all that power inside of him. It made Katara shiver, and Sokka hefted his weapon, his face bereft of any teasing or lightness, focused and ready to defend his sister.

The boy suddenly stopped glowing, and his eyes slid closed as he fell forward, rolling down the icy slope and landing beside the two members of the Southern Water Tribe. Katara moved away from her brother, and knelt beside the boy. He was incredibly young, at least two years younger than Katara herself was. His face was smooth and carefree, and Katara let her hands cradle his head carefully. Katara bit her lip at the blue markings on his forehead and the tops of his hands and feet. He was an airbender… but hadn't the Air Nomads been extinct for some time now? How had he managed to survive?

All of her worries were pushed aside as the boy opened his clear gray eyes, blinking slowly up at her. Katara breathed a sigh of relief, and the boy concentrated hard on speaking.

"I need… to ask you something."

The boy seemed exhausted after that much effort, and Katara nodded, moving closer as the boy gasped.

"It's very im…portant."

"What is it?" Katara asked fearfully.

The boy suddenly grinned as he said in a clear child's voice: "Will you go penguin sledding with me?"

* * *

To be continued…

* * *

Yeah, I got a lot of this from Happy Endings Book 1 The Drifter, although Jes's appearance is what I really look like. I'm just using that pre-existing fic to help me out with this every now and then, although plenty of ideas are my own except not in this particular chapter. And if you're wondering why I even explained about Luke, you'll find out sometime soon. He'll be a pretty important character later on.

Here's the disclaimer, and it applies to all chapters: Anything obviously taken from somebody else's fic isn't mine and I'm in no way stealing anything. I also don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender (if I did, Toph and Aang would've ended together since that makes a lot more sense to me than the canon's Kataang).

I hope this'll be even better than the pre-existing fic. Enjoy!


	2. Chapt2: New friends, and suspicions

**Chapter Two: New friends, and suspicions**

I was tired after all the work, so I hid into the storage rooms next to a big wooden crate. My crouching position wasn't exactly comfortable, but I was too tired to care. Pretty soon I was snoring lightly.

_The clouds in my dream were dense and dark. Rain pelted my back relentlessly and the wind was so intense that it was difficult to see or even breathe. I blinked in astonishment and looked around me. I had been sitting on the wooden planks of the Fire Navy ship, but now I was perched on something large, white and very, very soft._

_Well, used to be soft. Now the fur was matted and wet and smelled like an animal. I wrinkled my nose and ended up sneezing._

_Something orange and yellow in front of me jumped and spun around. I squinted and found myself staring into the frightened face of a bald twelve-year-old boy with a light blue arrow tattoo on his forehead. He was clutching the reins in terror, and his expression was one of surprise as he spotted me._

_I realized that I knew this boy._

_"A-Aang?"_

_The boy looked unnerved. "Who... are you? And how do you know my name? What are you doing on my bison?!"_

_"I'm... not on your bison," I told him, wondering what the hell was going on. "I... I guess you're in my dream."_

_"This is a dream?"_

_"I'm... pretty sure it is."_

_Neither of us knew what to say at that. Aang became distracted with steering Appa so that we didn't end up crashing into something. Visibility sucked. He still looked scared, but from what little I could see of his face, I could detect a hint of curiosity._

_Carefully, I scooted forwards until I was sitting next to him on Appa's head._

_"So... you're the Avatar, right?"_

_Aang jerked so violently that I thought he had been struck by lightning for a second. Then I realized that he was only very surprised. He looked at me in wide-eyed apprehension. "The Avatar?_ Me? _I'm not the Avatar. I don't know what you're talking about!"_

_"Dude," I said slowly, "you're an airbender. I can tell from the arrow thingy on your forehead. There are no other airbenders left, so you have to be the Avatar. Why are you so jumpy, anyway?"_

_"You still haven't told me who_ you_ are," he said gruffly. He stared at my hair for a minute before adding: "I don't think I've ever met anyone with red hair before."_

_I rolled my eyes. "That's because I'm a spirit," I spat sarcastically. "I'm Jes, the Red Spirit. Gotta problem with that, bison-boy?"_

_Aang's mouth fell open. Too late, I realized that he had taken me seriously. "You're a spirit? Really? Does that mean I'm dead or something? And what did you mean by–"_

_"Too many questions!"_

_"Oh... sorry..."_

_I stared at him with a quirked eyebrow until he was visibly calm... Or as calm as he could have been during this storm. He looked at me, those gray eyes filled with curiosity._

_"You know," said Aang slowly, "I think I remember this dream. This is usually the part where Appa and I drown, but... Well, that hasn't happened yet. Is that because of you? Are you using your spirit powers or something?"_

_"I'm not a spirit," I said flatly, "I was kidding."_

_"Then why are you here?"_

_I looked around us. Below, the waves were churning as though they were itching to swallow us whole. After the nearly-drowning incident, I was not eager to go back into the water any time soon._

_"Honestly, I don't know. This is probably just some weird hallucination I'm having from Iroh's tea... I wonder what he put in it, anyway..."_

_"Who's Iroh?" Aang asked._

_"Oh, you'll meet him some day, maybe," I told him honestly._ Maybe I shouldn't tell him too much… _So, switching the subject, I asked: "Have you met Katara and Sokka yet?"_

_Aang's expression brightened immediately. "Oh, yeah! Did I ever! They're brother and sister, and Katara she's a waterbender! And they–"_

_"Trust them," I cut in quickly. "They won't let you face everything alone."_

_"And what about you?"_

_I turned to look at him in surprise. "_What about_ me?"_

_"Will you be there, too?"_

_I thought about it for a long time. What exactly was this kid expecting from me, anyway? To pull a freaking Avatar Roku or something? He was looking at me_ As if I'm some great wise guy who has the answer to everything. Actually, having watched the first two seasons, I do know everything he's gonna face. But I can't tell him!

_"Well," I said slowly, feeling incredibly awkward. "I guess we're just going to have to wait and see..."_

_I heard a loud thud, and suddenly I wasn't quite there anymore._

I jerked up, guessing we had bumped onto an iceberg. Lucky for me, no-one's caught me slacking off yet. So I hurried to the deck to see what's up.

I saw Zuko practicing his firebending against a soldier, and Iroh was playing a game of Pai Sho with Shen and giving his nephew advice. When he saw me, the old man beckoned me to sit by him.

I walked over to him and sat down, glancing at Zuko as I went. He had no shirt on during practice, and was pretty muscular. Not that I cared.

"Not to be rude, but I have something I want to do," I said to Iroh. "If that's okay with you," I added for politeness.

The Dragon of the West nodded. To show respect, I put my open left palm's wrist atop my right fist which had the thumb against my left palm – a Fire Nation greeting. Iroh looked surprised when he saw I knew how to do it, but didn't comment.

Then I strode a little way away from him and Shen, and took what Iroh recognized as a firebending stance.

Luke and me would sometimes (without the bending part, obviously) do firebending, earthbending, airbending or waterbending moves, or practice karate. I've even made routines for us, and whenever we can we go to the park and go through one routine so many times we just fall asleep when we finally go home.

Now I was doing our firebending routine as I did some basic firebending movements, then shifted to the advanced ones. I half-hoped that I'd unleash some fire, but of course I had no chance of doing that.

I noticed Zuko, Iroh and the two soldiers on deck staring at me, but I ignored them. I kept going through the routine, shifting between simple katas and advanced ones.

At last, I came to the routine's end. I stood up straight, wiping the sweat that had gathered onto my forehead.

Iroh clapped, and Shen and the other solider joined the old man. "Remarkable," the Dragon of the West said, "You clearly are an expert on firebending."

I grinned, walking over to him. "Yup. My brother Luke and me practice every time we can, even though we can't bend."

"How did you learn all that?"

I couldn't very well tell him the truth – which was going on an Avatar: Last Airbender website at school whenever I had the chance – could I? So, I shrugged as I replied vaguely: "Travelling."

Iroh opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by the sound of a rocket.

We turned our heads and saw it was soaring through the sky before it exploded.

_Way to go, Aang,_ I thought sarcastically.

Pretty soon, all the soldiers were scrambling around, trying to carry out their hastily given orders. Ai-Lin and I had taken advantage of the confusion to get a good spot at the bow, trying to catch sight of the village we were breaking towards.

"I can see people!" she told me. "A lot of women and children. Not a lot of warriors. Man, Zuko's going to have an easy time of it."

"Can I see?"

"For five gold you can."

I had no money, so I snatched the telescope from Ai-Lin, sticking my tongue at her as I did it. "You'll get it in a minute," I said.

She laughed, apparently finding my slight childishness funny.

To my delight, I saw a figure that looked a lot like Sokka gastrulating wildly with a spear. A bunch of toddlers were watching him in confusion. I laughed to myself.

"They're screwed," I muttered, watching as Sokka turned to yell at Katara, who had just emerged from the crowd with Aang in tow. I watched him for a moment before I decided to do a fan-dub. "Oh, Sokka," I said in a farce of a falsetto, for Katara's voice, "You're a comic relief character. You couldn't fight off a bus full of nuns!"

"A what now?"

I forgot that Ai-Lin was standing next to me. "Nothing," I said. "Just enjoying the scenery, that's all."

I continued to watch as the trio of awesomeness bickered amongst themselves. Then, Sokka disappeared inside one of the huts, presumably to get ready to "fight off" the Fire Nation. Aang looked a bit downcast while Katara tried to comfort him. I had no idea what they were saying, but I knew that in another dimension the Kataang alarm bells would be ringing like crazy. Then Aang went away, most likely to fly off on Appa since Katara followed her grandmother.

Down below, Sokka was staring into the horizon, waiting for his enemy. His war paint was flawless and his weapons had been polished so that they would look extra-super-special-awesome as he was using them to kick Fire Nation butt. He was standing on the ice wall, trying not to be intimidated by the silence or the mist that obscured his vision.

Suddenly, the snow beneath his feet began to tremble. Stumbling a little, Sokka wheeled around in time to see the guard tower he had spent a better part of a month building crumble to the ground in a messy pile of frozen rubbish.

"Oh, man!" he cried. He almost ran over there to put it back together when a more pressing matter caught his attention. A vast shadow crept along the ground, trumping Sokka in its entirety as he stood there staring bemusedly at the bow of Zuko's warship.

Two words: Epic fail.

"Ohhhh, man...!" he whispered, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. From on deck, I could get a very good look at his facial expression through the tlescope. It was really hard to keep a straight face when I saw it. I really, really wished I had a camera – one with a long-distance lense so I could capture his priceless expression on film.

But you can't have everything in life, now can you?

The frightened villagers were running around in a state of panic as the ship cut through the ice wall and threatened to crack the frozen ground from its weight alone. It was pandemonium, but when I turned my looking glass in their direction I managed to catch sight of Katara and her grandmother sanding a good way behind Sokka with the rest of the village.

I turned my attention back to the boy with the boomerang in time to see the wall that Sokka had been standing on collapse, sending the remains and Sokka hurtling backwards in a mini-avalanche. Somehow, though, the Water Tribe warrior managed to get to his feet and do a battle-stance as the bowsprit of the ship folded open. It hit the ice with an ominous thud.

I had to grip the railing tightly to keep from falling overboard.

Zuko gave the order for his men to move out. Within seconds, they began to move down the gangplank. I could see everything perfectly, kept my eye on the village's sole defender, waiting for him to strike. I was not disappointed.

With a screech that was probably supposed to have been something resembling a war-cry, Sokka charged up the ramp, his club bared and ready to crack Zuko's skull.

_3...2...1..._

With laughably casual ease, Zuko sidestepped Sokka's attack and kicked the weapon out of his hand. It flew up in the air, arching magnificently as the Fire Prince brought his foot back up, slamming it in Sokka's face. With a cry, the Water Tribe warrior flew to the side and was planted face down into the snow. Only a second later, his own weapon hit the ground.

_Humiliation! _"Fail, Sokka," I muttered, shaking my head. "Just... fail."

Ai-Lin glanced at me curiously, but I ignored her. What happened next was pure entertainment. For the first time in my life I was getting to see an episode of my favorite show play out right in front of me! How awesome was that?

Zuko continued down the gangplank, and the villagers unanimously cowered backwards away from him and his soldiers. For a long moment there was silence. Then, the Prince approached Katara's grandmother.

"Where is the Avatar? I know that he's here, so there's no use in hiding him!"

One of the women spoke nervously: "He isn't here."

"Then where is he?"

"We don't know!"

Zuko growled, and reached forward to yank the old woman beside Katara out into the open. The girl cried out as her companion was torn from her, held back by two other older women from the tribe as she tried to pull her grandmother away.

Acting quickly, I jumped over the railing of the ship and landed onto my knees on the snow. I stood up and darted towards the old woman and Zuko. I placed both hands on Katara's grandma's shoulders, glaring at Zuko as angrily as I could.

There was no way I would stand on the side-lines and let Angry Jerk intimidate these innocent people.

"Hey, Princey, hurting and scaring these people will not help your cause," I said.

"Shut up!" Zuko snapped at me as he shook the older woman's shoulders, making the woman gasp in fear. I heard a child begin to cry, so with a jolt I pulled the woman from Zuko's grasp. The prince hissed angrily, but let the older woman go, glaring daggers at me. I glared back.

I felt a sting of annoyance at the way the older woman flinched away from my hands as if she had been burned, and scrambled to join the rest of her tribe. _Doesn't she realize I jumped off a ship to help her?_

Zuko lost patience after a few moments of tense silence, and with a roar of anger swung his fist in an arc, sending a flare of fire dangerously close to the group of women and children.

Suddenly, a small, slim figure slammed into Zuko's legs, sending the prince flying off of his feet. If the situation hadn't been so serious, I would've laughed. Instead I just snickered as Zuko scrambled to his feet, his helmet having been knocked off.

I stared at Aang as he turned around, and he at once recognized me. "Jes!"

It took me a minute to figure out what the bald-headed kid was talking about. My face paled at the thought when I realized how he knew my name. Aang had had the same dream I had!

Zuko growled at the boy, moving to send a flare of fire at the Avatar, his golden eyes narrowed in annoyance of what Aang had done but also suspicion over me and Aang knowing each other.

"You're the Avatar? You're just a kid," Princey remarked.

"Well you're just a teenager," Aang replied innocently. I had trouble holding back a snort of laughter. Princey was pretty irritated and attacked again, so Aang dodged.

I just watched them fight a little, or more specifically, Aang using airbending to dodge and Zuko attacking with firebending. One of his blasts hit me when Aang dodged it, sending me flying onto my back.

I sat up, glaring daggers at Angry Jerk. I felt two hands helping me up, and looked to see that Katara was kneeling beside me. I stared at her for a moment, and slowly allowed the girl assist me in getting to my feet. When we were both standing, I noted that the girl was an inch taller than me, which was a bit irritating. This girl was younger than me, and she was already taller. Ugh. And prettier… prettier than I would ever be. Flawless skin, piercing eyes, long brown hair… I wanted to kick something. _Could it get any worse?_

I pushed those thoughts away as good ol' sceptic Sokka yelled: "Katara!"

The girl bit her lip before retreating back to the group, leaving me standing in the snow. She glanced back at me, and brown eyes met blue for a brief moment. I don't know why, but she reminded me of my mum. So I turned away.

Aang slowly relaxed from his tense state, and spoke in his childish voice: "If I go with you… will you leave everyone else alone?" Zuko nodded curtly. Aang thought for a moment, and then sighed. "Then I'll come with you."

The Fire Nation prince turned slightly, yelling something to the ship behind him. After a moment, several armed soldiers came out and bound Aang's hands behind his back. Katara yelled out to the young boy: "No, Aang, don't do this!"

Aang smiled cheerfully, and looked back at the girl. "Don't worry, Katara. I'll be fine."

And with that, the boy let the soldiers lead him across the snow towards the ship. I walked up the ramp behind Zuko, glad that the shoes I got from Ai-Lin weren't too slippery.

* * *

The door to a large chamber opened, and I felt myself shoved insideby a scertain Fire Nation prince. It was large and lavish, and Zuko tossed the staff so it fell on the bed with a soft thump. I barely managed to steady herself on the bedpost before two hands turned me around and pushed me against the wall. I bit my lip to stop myself from letting out a shriek as Zuko's fingers dug into my upper arms, and his eyes were frightening in their intensity as he growled.

"Understand this. I am in control of your life while you are on my ship. I can throw you off the ship when we're at sea, and my soldiers will do it without a second thought," the prince hissed, his breath hot and stifling on my face. "You're stupid if I think that I'm going to let you get away with interfering again. _Never _interfere again, you have _no_ right. If you do, I'll drop you onto an iceberg and leave you there to rot. Do you understand?"

Knowing I'd be dead if I retort like I wanted to, I nodded, averting my gaze from Zuko's face in an effort to hide my fury. He already hated me and I hated him, so letting my temper take over would be a death-wish.

Zuko let go, turning around and placing Aang's staff against a wall. Then he turned around, and from the look in his eyes I could tell he wasn't through with me.

But before he could speak, there was a crash. I felt a gust of powerful wind flow into the room. It knocked me off my feet, and I saw a flash of yellow before Zuko's fire filled the room, missing me by an inch. I got to my feet in seconds and raced out of the room, taking the chance to escape Angry Jerk's interrogation. I heard Zuko yelling, and looked back to see Aang racing along the walls, perched on a ball of air that was swirling and spinning endlessly. Then Zuko's fire flared again, and so I took his distraction as an opportunity to run.

I ran down the hallway, away from Zuko's room. I was darting between the racing soldiers that were yelling orders. Strands of red hair stuck to my face, and I tucked them behind my ear as I reached the deck.

I had barely reached the center of the deck when Aang suddenly rushed out the hallway, Zuko hot on his tail. I ducked out of the way as n his panic to escape Aang snapped open what looked like a fan attached to the front and back end of the staff – his glider. Aang jumped in the air, flattening himself to the wood, and used his airbending to propel himself forward in the air. But Zuko grabbed onto his ankle at the last moment, and the two collided sharply on the deck.

Aang flipped to his feet, but Zuko swung his foot around and the fire collided with the other boy's torso, sending him flying overboard and into the icy water below.

I rushed to the side, and heard another voice cry out the boy's name: "Aang!"

I looked up and saw Katara and Sokka, riding towards the ship on Appa. I let myself smile a little. It's not every day you see a real-live sky-bison.

Katara was leaning over the saddle, eyes wide and fearful as they searched the water for her friend. I searched as well, and watched as a bright pale blue light began to shine in the water. It was the same light from before, the light that had pulled me into this world.

Suddenly, the water beneath the boat swerved upwards, slamming into the boat and making it tip dangerously. I barely had time to grip the railing before the boat tipped, and as it settled I saw the water churning and rising to form a sort of spire, with Aang at the top. But the Aang before me wasn't the cheerful and slightly wimpy boy from before. This boy was radiating power and wisdom, and his eyes were an eerie electric blue.

Zuko was out of sight, so I just enjoyed watching what was going on. Appa landed on the deck, and Katara was waterbending. I slightly grinned as I saw the girl use the water to freeze a soldier in his path. I guessed Sokka was probably poking Zuko with Aang's staff, since I remembered that happening in the TV show.

I watched as Aang slowly drifted down towards the metal deck, his eyes fading to their usual gray, and his body going slack as the power left him in a rush. The ocean around us calmed, and Katara rushed over to where he lay. The boy stirred after a moment, and Katara helped him retrieve his staff and into the saddle of the monstrous buffalo or bison. Sokka showed up from somewhere and leapt onto Appa, and they quickly rose into the sky.

Iroh and Zuko were now standing by the hallway, and the two of them exchanged a glance before standing together and moving their arms in a harmonized movement. Two enormous fire streams melded together and headed towards the flying bison. But at the last moment, something diverted the flame and made it crash into the mountain of ice that formed the glacier beside the ship. The ice and snow came crashing down onto the lower half of the ship and deck deafeningly.

A few loose blocks of ice headed for me, so I put my practice into good use and dodged them, rolling on the deck before hastily getting up. Appa and his riders were gone by now, and the ship was in pretty bad shape. _Princey's_ so _not gonna be happy._

* * *

I was right. After being dragged by two of the soldiers into Zuko's room by good ol' Princey's command, I wasn't all that surprised when said angry jerk marched into the room with a death glare in those golden eyes. Iroh came behind Zuko, seeming a lot less angry than his nephew. Actually, Iroh just seemed curious.

"Leave us. No-one is to hear our conversation," Zuko said to the soldiers, who hastily obeyed. He slammed the door shut and locked it.

Then Princey turned his death glare to me. As usual, he didn't bother beating around the bush as he demanded: "How do you know the Avatar?"

"The monk? I don't know him," I lied, trying to sound surprised at the question.

"Don't lie!" Zuko shouted, small flames dancing around his fists.

"Jes, Prince Zuko told me that the Avatar knew your name. How could he if you two have never met?" Iroh said calmly.

I gulped. _Busted!_ "Fine. I met Aang once, in the middle of a storm. I just thought he somehow was the only airbender to have survived the war. I didn't know he was the Avatar."

From their faces, I figured they believed my semi-lie. But Zuko's death glare, which was still directed at me, didn't waver. "Well he obviously is. You'd better not try anything that could stop me from capturing him."

"No worries, Princey. Last time I checked, I'm stuck here 'til we reach land. So I won't be putting your mission in jeopardy. Not that I even could _if_ I wanted to." I was being honest, for a change.

"You'd better not. Now go do work or I _will_ tell my men to throw you overboard."

"Sure, Princey," I replied.

* * *

"Why'd you jump off the ship like that?" Ai-Lin asked. We were {insert whatever work you think they could be doing here}.

"I couldn't let Princey treat those innocent people like that. I guess he wasn't too happy about that," I replied with a small grin.

Ai-Lin shook her head, amused. "You're trouble, you know that, hon'?"

I smirked. "You're just starting to figure that out?"

Suddenly, there was a big jolt that threw us against the wall. We hastily stood up and headed for the deck. As soon as we got there, we saw Appa roaring at the soldiers as he quickly took to the air.

"Jes!" Aang called as he spotted me, jumping off his flying bison. The young monk headed for me.

He at once got surrounded by the soldiers, and kept dodging their attacks until Zuko grabbed him in an arm-lock. That bought the soldiers enough time for tying Aang up." Katara! Sokka! Get Appa away from here!" the airbender shouted.

From my spot next to Ai-Lin, I saw the conflict in the great animals and his passengers' eyes. But apparently, the Water Tribe siblings decided it'd be no use to try rescuing Aang the way they did earlier today if they got captured too, as they flew to safety.

Aang was well tied up by now, and two soldiers held him by his arms to stop him trying to move. Zuko looked at the monk smugly as he said to him: "This time, you _won't _escape."

* * *

To be continued…


End file.
